Canada has expelled six Indian diplomats following a police investigation that uncovered a “campaign of violence” against dissidents, according to government sources cited by Reuters and the Associated Press. This marks a significant escalation in the already tense relations between the two nations, which have been strained since the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.

In response, India expelled six Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner, with orders for them to leave the country by Saturday. The Indian foreign ministry also announced the withdrawal of its top envoy to Ottawa, citing ongoing investigations by the Canadian government that have implicated Indian diplomats.

Relations between India and Canada soured in September 2023 when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were involved in Nijjar’s murder on Canadian soil. Nijjar was a proponent of an independent Sikh state, designated a “terrorist” by India.

Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) disclosed that it had gathered substantial evidence regarding “criminal activity” orchestrated by Indian government agents. However, India has strongly denied these claims, accusing the Canadian government of using the investigation for political purposes and failing to provide concrete evidence despite multiple requests.

This diplomatic fallout has also garnered international attention, with the United States previously linking Indian agents to an assassination attempt of another Sikh separatist leader in New York in 2023, further complicating India’s relationships with Western nations.